Acceptence
by 59katie
Summary: Alex becomes the D.A. after the death of Phil Holland. Walker investigates Holland's death even though it has been ruled a suicide.


Acceptance by Katie 59

Chapter One

Walker was getting nowhere in his investigation into the death of Phil Holland because the death was ruled to have been suicide partly due to the fact that Holland had been found dead by Trivette inside of a locked room with the gun laying on the desk by Holland's right hand. Walker and Trivette were discussing the matter one morning at Ranger headquarters when Trivette told him " Walker you know that I've never doubted your instincts but there's no getting around the fact that I had to break into Phil's private office that was locked from the inside. Not only was the door locked by a deadbolt but there was a chain lock on it also and I ripped that from the door jamb when I kicked in the door." Walker answered " I know that Trivette but I don't buy Holland killing himself so soon after I overheard Briton's attorneys more or less threatening him. Plus there the fact that Holland seemed to have changed so much after the death of his father. Would you ever have taken Holland for someone who would use drugs? And what about those papers that he gave me right before he ended up dying from a bullet to the side of his head? There's a lot about this that isn't adding up."

" I hate to break it to you Walker but Holland's change in behavior after the death of his father makes it seem more likely that he took his own life, not less likely. And those papers he gave you, that's also a reason for Holland to have taken his own life. He must have known that there was a possibility that what he had been doing at the Devil's Hornocopia would be revealed, eventually. Holland was facing the end of his career not to mention possible jail time, given that he had been using his position at the D.A. to allow Briton to get away with criminal activity. But I do agree with you about Holland's death and I've been doing some research on the computer and so far all I've been able to find out about the senior Holland is that six months before he died he had a new will drawn up. Maybe there was something in that new will that caused Phil to react so badly to it. Since I don't know if the general public can acccess wills maybe you could ask Alex to look into it. That new will might give us a starting point as to what caused Holland to take up drug use and hang out at The Devil's Hornocopia. Not to mention that Holland in his own words said that he had availed himself of the strippers' services in the back room there, more than once." Trivette answered Walker who said that he would ask Alex to look into the will when he gat a chance to. They then changed the subject to Ranger business.

Later on that morning Walker called home to talk to his wife Alex but Betty the nanny told him that she was at a meeting at the D.A.'s office so Walker said that he would go see her there. Walker went to the D.A.'s main office where he found Madge who was in charge of assigning staff to the various offices. Walker asked her " Madge would you happen to know where Alex is at? Betty said that she was here." Madge answered " Ranger Walker your wife is in her office but I'm afraid that she's rather busy at the moment going over everything with all the A.D.A.'s that now work for her. It's been pretty hectic around here ever since she came to work this morning as the new D.A., she's Holland's replacement. Mrs. Walker did tell you that she was the D.A. now, didn't she?"

Walker replied " I'll call her later." Walker returned to his private office at Ranger headquarters and placed a call to his wife's office, it was answered by Kayla Swanson the former secretary who was now Alex's assistant. Kayla said " Alex is tied up right this minute but told me to tell you that if you you called and had some spare time this afternoon could you stop by around two, she should be free then. Should I tell her that you'll be here then?" Walker replied that he would there at two.

At two Walker entered Alex's outer office and Kayla who was there said for him to go straight in to see his wife so he did. Spotting her husband in her doorway Alex said to him " Why don't you take a seat while I explain what's going on?" Walker took a seat and Alex explained " Now before you say anything about me not talking to you before I accepted the job I want you to understand that if I had had the time to talk to you about it I would have. This morning I got a call from county excutive Yancey asking me to meet him here so I did. When I got here Yancey asked me to become the acting D.A. right then and there. He said that if I didn't take the job Pedro Bourboune who works out of the Federal Attorney's office would be appointed to the position as the request of Mayor Dimsdale. Now Walker you and I both know that there is no way that Bourboune is capable of running the D.A.'s office the way it should be run. He believes that any plea deal, no matter how much it favors the defendant is a great idea. I can't count how many times he's agreed to a sweetheart deal in which a criminal basically walked with a minor fine and probation and sometimes not even probation. I agreed to take the job for now but if it gets to be too much for our family I want you to know that I will resign the position. I also want you to know that the second I said yes Yancey called Madge and told her that I would be meeting with all the personal assigned to the D.A.'s office in an half hour. After he hung up the phone Yancey told me that Kayla was already on her way in to help me. Walker I did call your office but was told that you were busy then so I decided that I would call you as soon as I could to let you know that I'm now the D.A. and will be for the foreseeable future. You aren't upset with me about this, are you?"

" I understand that you did what you had to do Alex. We can talk more about this later at home if you want to but I stopped by to see if there was any way that you can get a copy of the Senior Holland's will. It might explain why Phil Holland's behavior changed so much in the months right before he died." Walker said to Alex replied " I was thinking about looking it up myself to see if it contained anything to explain Phil's dramatic change in behavior. I'll have Kayla see if she can find where it was probated and get two copies of it, one for your office and one for my office too since we're both going to be looking into the death of former D.A. Phil Holland."

Walker objected " Alex you don't need to investigate Holland's death. You're to leave that to my office, understand?" Alex answered " By law I have to conduct an inquiry into the death of anyone who worked for the D.A.'s office and issue a routine report on the matter. I don't think that I'll find out anything other than the fact that Phil started hanging out in a back room at The Devil's Hornocopia while doing drugs and availing himself of the strippers who plyed their trade there. If this inquiry turns up anything else you will be the first to know because the Texas Rangers are to follow up on anything uncovered during the inquiry. I hate to cut this short but I have another meeting scheduled in the conference room in ten minutes. As soon as I'm done there Kayla and I still have to go through Holland's old files so that means I'll be getting home late. I'll call you later to let you know what time I'll be able to go home to our children."

Walker closed the distance between the two of them and pulled his wife into a hug as he told her " Don't worry about your stubborn offspring, I'll make sure that I'm home in time to cook them dinner. You just worry about settling yourself in as the D.A., okay?:" Alex nodded okay so Walker kissed her then left Alex's private office.

Chapter Two

Trivette entered Walker's private office and told him " Walker, Mary Edna from the coroner's office just called and she wants the two of us to meet her in her office after six this evening. She said that she needed to discuss with us the autopsy report on former D.A. Holland." Walker replied " Let me call Alex to let her know that I won't be able to get Angela and Ray for her." Trivette nodded okay and left Walker's office. Walker called his wife to tell her that he couldn't pick their two older children up. Alex answered him " Captain Walker, as the acting D.A. I have to meet with Mary Edna from the coroner's office at six too. Also Captain Grear will be there. Now speaking as your wife I want you to know that since I won't be able to get our older two children from their bus stop after school I've arranged for Caroline to go to the ranch and watch the triplets since they will be already home from kindergarten while Betty gets Angela and Ray. Now that's out of the way I think that you should know that my office has been able to find out where former D.A. Holland's late father will was probated and my office assistant Kayla will get two copies of it. One for my inquiry and one for your office which I'll send to your office as soon as I get a chance to. See you later."

After the four of them were seated in Mary Edna's office she handed Captian Grear, Walker and Alex copies of Phil Holland's autopsy and told them " The manner of death for Phillip Holland was a gun shot wound to the right temple. It appears to have been self inflicted and there were gun powder residue on the decedent's right hand. Also when Ranger Trivette broke down the door the gun was laying on the desk by Holland's right hand. Ranger Trivette has told this office that D.A. Holland was the only person in his office. Also the lab results show that there was a large amount of spark in the decedent's blood and that it had been injected into his system shortly before his death. The best estimate that we can come up with it that the injection took place from an hour to one half hour before death occured. My office was going to rule that this was a suicide but the numerous bruises on D.A. Holland's left arm leaves open the possibility that D.A. Holland was subjected to a very brutal arm twisting just prior to his death. The bruises were inflicted anywhere from several minutes to an hour before death occured. Also there are several track marks on the victim's back in an area where someone else would have had to injected him with something. It was impossible for him to have injected himself in those places. The cause of death is going to be listed as a fatal gun shot wound to the right temple. However I am going to say that the manner of death fits the legal definition of a suicide at this time but that my office is unwilling to list it as such at this time. Ranger Walker should your office or Captain Grear's office come up with anything that can explain the bruises I will amend my report to reflect that. Any questions?"

Walker and Trivette shook their heads no while Grear asked her " Why not just list it as suicide now? We may never get any evidence to the contary." Mary Edna answered him " You might be right about that Captain Grear but my office will not list suicide as the manner of death until we are completely sure that D.A. Holland willingly took his own life. I'm not willing to label the death as a suicide at this time because of the bruising on the left arm and the amount of spark in the bloodstream." Grear replied " I know that he was found by Ranger Trivette all by himself in a locked room but something about this smells. Thanks for the report Assistant Coroner Edna."

After they left her offrice Grear suggested to them " Rangers Walker, Trivette and D.A. Cahill-Walker I'd like to meet with the three of you as soon as possible so that we can come up with a plan to find out what really happened the day D.A. Holland died. Something is just not right here." Alex answered " Captain Grear I think that is a very good idea in light of the fact the D.A's Holland's father shortly before his own death changed his will so that his estate's assets, excluding the Holland mansion was split evenly between his son Phillip Holland and Briton. The mansion was left to Phil and his heirs, it now belongs to Kim and Phil Jr. There is a lot more that needs to be researched about the will and why Briton was a heir to the Holland Estate all of a sudden but here is not a good place for us to discuss this matter. How about ten o'clock tomorrow morning in former District Attorney Phillip Holland's private office? Can everyone make it there then?" Grear said that he'd be able to be there then and Trivette said that he would be there too. Trivette and Grear walked down the hallway together discussing if it was at all possible for someone to have shot Holland then slipped out of the room while still leaving the doors locked from the inside. They both thought that it may have been possible but neither one of them knew how exactly it could have been done. As he was walking away from Trivette Grear joked that he might watch an old detective show or two because there were always locked room mysteries on them. Trivette joked back that he just might do that himself.

Walker looked at his wife to ask her something but she told him " I don't have enough answers right now Captain Walker. I'll have them by the time we meet at the D.A.'s office tomorrow, okay?"

" Okay D.A. Cahill-Walker. See you then." Walker formally replied then teased her " As your husband lady I'd like to know when you're going home to our children." Alex replied " The same time that you're getting there cowboy because you're driving me home. I'll just leave my car here and you can ride me to work in the morning."

" Okay but I'll expect you to thank me for riding home and then back to work in the morning." Walker flirted with his wife who stepped close and whispered into his ear. " How about a dozen kisses after your children are asleep. Is that enough of a thanks?" Walker whispered back " It's a start."

As they were in their bedroom kissing the phone rang and Alex snatched it up saying " What do you want Trivette?" Kayla was the person on the phone and she said " It's me Kayla and I thought that I should tell you that I'm at D.A. Holland's old office and all the locks on anything that had a lock on it have been changed like you wanted them."

" You could have told me this in the morning Kayla." Alex pointed out to her assistant who replied " I know but D.A. Holland's secretary just called here wanting to know if she could stop by in an hour or so to collect her things. I'm here by myself and I think somebody should be here with me when Miss Gerry picks up her things."

" Call Ranger headquarters and tell whomever's on duty that they are to go to where you're at and to wait with you while Gerry picks her things up from the outer office, only. Tell them that I authorized it. Also Kayla and this is very important, Gerry is not to go into Holland's private office for any reason what so ever. If she should need something from there tell her that I said she would have to wait until Texas Ranger Captain Walker or myself were there to let her in. I do not want anyone in there by themselves until we can look it over." Alex told Kayla who said that she would see to it.

After hanging up the phone Alex tried to pull her husband into a kiss but he took the phone and called Ranger headquarters. Ranger Swanson answered the phone. Walker explained to her what she was to do and Swanson replied that she would be on her way to former D.A. Holland's office just as soon as she got off of the phone.

After hanging up the phone himself Walker pulled his wife to him and asked her " Now where were we?" Alex slid her hand down the front of his body as she answered " On our way to heaven."

Chapter Three

The next day when Alex arrived at work she went straight to Phil Holland's old office and Holland's secretary Miss Gerry was there berating Kayla " Listen Little Miss Swanson just because you think that you're all important now was no reason for you to try and tell me that I wasn't allowed to get my potted plants from Phil's office. Where do you get off doing that? You also said that I wasn't allowed to turn my computer on and download my personal files from it onto my cell phone. When I tried to do that you had your aunt order me out of here. That was wrong of you and you know it. And by the way, what exactly was your aunt doing here last night? She had no business being here and you know that. Now either you step aside and let me get my plants or I'll move you aside." Alex entered the conversation " Miss Gerry, my assistant was only doing what she was told to do by me. No one is allowed to enter former D.A. Holland's private office by themselves unless I give them permission to do so. As for the computer, it is the property of the D.A.'s office and anything that's on it belongs to the D.A.'s office. That's probably why my assistant wouldn't let you download anything from it. Since there is going to be a routuine inquest into the death of Phillip Holland by my office and the Texas Rangers I thought that it was best to keep everyone away from here until it was gone over again."

" I just want my plants. If I don't take them home and take care of them they are going to die. Can't you at least let me take them? I'm not trying to be difficult but the crime scene team was already here and did everything that they needed to do. So there's no harm in me removing my plants, now is there? Also the files that I wanted to remove from my computer were just some silly pictutes that I had downloaded from the internet. Nobody needs to see then, I'll just turn on the computer and remove them now." Gerry said to Alex who told her " Miss Gerry the plants are going to remain in that office until it's gone over again with a fine toothed comb. I've already made arrangements for that to be done today. As for those personal files that you've put on that computer you can come by and remove them after C.S.I. goes over Phil's private office again. After it's done you will be able to come and get your plants and download those files. You can wait until this afternoon, can't you?"

" Okay D.A Cahill-Walker I just wanted to make sure that my plants didn't die because I wasn't allowed to take care of them. I haven't been allowed in here since Phil's death and the plants are probably half dead by now. About the computer, I didn't want anybody to know that I downloaded pictures onto my work computer. I didn't know that there was going to be an inquest into Phil's death and that was why I wasn't allowed near my computer and in there. Your assistant didn't bother to tell me that last night. She just had her aunt, the Texas Ranger throw me out." Gerry replied causing Kayla to shake her head. Alex seeing this then suggested to her assistant " Miss Swanson how about you go and tell the others that I'm here now and that we might as well get this started as soon as they can get here?"

After Kayla left Alex turned to Gerry who hadn't left and asked her " Would you mind answering some questions about the day that D.A. Holland died from a gun shot wound? I would like you to tell me what you remember while everything is still fresh in your mind. If you want to get an attorney before you answer the questions I'll wait to ask you about that day."

" I don't understand D.A. Cahill-Walker, I thought that Phil killed himself? So why are you conducting an investigation into his death? He was in his private office by himself with both doors locked from the inside when I heard the sound of a gun shot." Gerry said to Alex who answered " By law I have to conduct an investigation into the death of anyone who worked for the D.A.'s office and that includes our former D.A., okay? Now when will you have the time to tell me what happened that day?"

" How about I tell you what I remember from that day when I come by later to pick up my plants? I have some errands to do right now." Gerry replied then quickly left.

A short time later Walker, Trivette and Grear arrived. Alex told them " Gentlemen, Miss Gerry who was former D.A. Holland's secretary was just here and was trying to get me to allow her into the inner office to remove her potted plants. I told her that she could pick them up later today. So shall we get started on looking over Phil's old office?" Alex then unlocked the door to the private office and they entered it. Alex went over to where two potted plants were sitting on a book case away from the office window and asked no one in particular " Why on earth would anyone put plants on a on both ends of a bookcase away from the window when there's a stand by the window that they could be on?"

Trivette answered " I don't know but maybe that's why they look more than half dead. And take a look at those two over there on another bookcase. Same thing with them, they're almost dead too because they're out of the sunlight." Walker looked at both sets of plants then looked at the desk and said " Unless someone didn't care wether or not the plants lived. Grear would you mind picking up the plant nearest to you and see if you see anything wrong with it?"

Grear picked up the potted plant as Walker did the same thing with the one closest to him. Trivette and Alex also picked up a plant and the four of them looked them over finding nothing out of the ordinary. The three men replaced their plants on the bookcases but Alex said " For being in a cheap plastic pot this plant is heavier than it should be." She then set the potted plant down on the desk and removed the plant from the pot. She held it up to the men who just looked at her. Alex then said to them " And here's the reason why." They went over to the desk to see that there was a false bottom to the pot. After Walker carefully pried it up they saw some sort of electronic device in the bottom of the planter.

Grear asked " Okay Walker how about we get a C.S.I. team in here right now instead of waiting until they were supposed to be here to see if any of the other pots have something in their bottoms?" Walker answered " We'll do that and after we've secured the evidence D.A. Cahill-Walker can call and tell Miss Gerry that she can get her plants." Trivette objected " And what if she was involved in Holland's death somehow? That thing didn't get into the bottom of that pot by itself."

Alex responded " Trivette by the time Miss Gerry returns to get her plants we'll know what that thing was in there for and if there are other things in the other pots. As for what if any involvement she may have had in Phil's death we should know something by then. But just to be on the safe side why don't we have someone place hidden cameras and mikes around this office?"

Trivette told her " I'll have my friend do it right after the C.S.I. team finishes up in here. Also in the outer office too." Alex nodded okay and went back out into the outer office followed by Walker who asked his wife " How did you know that the plant was too heavy for that pot?" Alex answered her husband " I've thrown a potted plant a time or two in my life."

Back in the inner office Trivette and Grear were telling each other about the ways they thought someone could have shot someone then left a room in such a way that the room appeared to have been locked from the inside. After looking over the door that led to the bathroom and then to the outer office they decided that someone could have left Phil's private office that way that day while locking the door behind themselves. A short time later the lead crime scene guy by the name of Jolsyn had the four of them watch as he turned on Miss Gerry's computer in the outer office while telling them " We found out that all four wireless recording devices were routed to a computer that had this I.P. address. Now one of my people is sitting at the desk and we should be able to see her."

" Clear as a bell. Jolsyn is there any sound?" Trivette asked the man who then turned up the volume as he yelled out " Say something Alverez." Alverez said " Okay, the moon is blue." She was heard on the computer in the outer office. Grear then asked " Can we tell how long the devices were in there or what they recorded?"

Jolsyn answered " We'll go through the hard drive at headquarters later but for now I can let you know that there are subfolders with dates on them. We're going to copy them and forward the copies to you. That might take us some time though. Just give me a secure e-mail address for whomever needs a copy." Trivette, Alex and Grear gave him their secured e-mail addresses. The four of them then quickly came up with a plan as the C.S.I. team carefully labeled the evidence then removed it.

After C.S.I. team left Trivette said that he would have friend of his put hidden recording devices in the private and outer offices. Then he would made sure that there was a matching computer in place onto which they were going to copy a lot of the files from Miss Gerry's computer. Trivette's friend would also place a spy program into the computer which would record everything once it was turned on. That was in case she sat down at her desk and tried to remove any files from from the computer that was there. They decided to return the plants to the pots they had been in, along with identical recording devices and replaced them where they had been at. Trivette returned to Ranger headquarters to get started on that. Walker asked his wife " Did you find out why the senior Holland left half of his estate to Briton?"

" According to the Senior Holland's will Briton was his son that he had with a mistress. Briton was born shortly after Phil's mother died. She was a stripper until Briton was born then she became a part owner of the stip club she had worked at. I have a copy of the will in my office if you'd like to read it. It's contains a lot of interesting things in it." Alex informed her husband who told her " I'll stop by after Trivette gets back here to secure this office." Alex nodded okay and left.

Chapter Four

Walker entered his wife's office and she quickly got to the point " Phil Holland's father Herbert Carswell Holland as you know split the bulk of his known estate between his sons, Phillip Holland and Carswell Holland Briton. However all the adult entertainment holdings that the senior Holland was a silent owner in went to his youngest son, Carswell Briton. Herbert Holland's last will and testiment stated that in order for either one of his sons to inherit their share of his estate that they both had to agree not to contest the fact that Phillip would now either oversee the businesses that were known to general public or run them himself and that Carswell would keep running the adult entertainment businesses as he had been doing for the last several years. The will also stated that Phillip was to go to either Heaven's Delight or the Devil's Hornocopia and meet with his younger brother. That the meeting had to be witnessed by the attorney for the estate, Mr. Larague and that both sons had to sign a sworn statement that the meeeting had taken place. I haven't been able to find out wether or not any paperwork had been submitted to the probate court proving that the conditions of the will were being followed. Briton was in charge of where the meeting was to take place. I think but I don't know for sure that it took place at the Devil's Hornocopia shortly after the will was probated. Also in the will the senior Holland stated that the accidental shooting death of Phillip Holland's mother as a result of the youngster playing with a loaded weapon had prevented him from divorcing her and marrying his younger son's mother, one Pauline Elsa Georgette. According to a codicil to the will Herbert Carswell Holland had told Briton's mother that he wouldn't be able to marry her because it wouldn't fit in with his public image as a greiving widower. That he had been hoping to do it quietly after he had divorced Phillip's mother and Carswell's mother had been able to clean up her image from running respectable bussiness. That he needed the public to think that he was a respectful bussiness man in order for his legit businesses to do well. As the years went by Herbert Holland became a bigger but silent figure in the adult entertainment industry while at the same time his known public holdings also increased. Now as to Briton's mother, she was for more than a few years listed as the part owner of those businesses. When Briton became of age he took over running the businesses for his mother who died several months before Herbert Holland died. I looked up the cause of death for her and it was considered a suicide from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the right temple."

" It sounds like Holland didn't even know that he had a younger brother or that his father owned adult entertainment businesses. Something happened at that meeting that caused Holland to get himself in over his head. By the time he reached out to me for help it was already too late." Walker said to his wife who pointed out " Or someone thought that Phil was going to go to you and spill the beans and killed him before he could. We really need to know what happened after you left Phil's office the day he died."

" You're right and when the lab knows what was being recorded in Holland's office they are going to let us know but in the meantime Trivette is setting up Miss Gerry's office so that we can tell if she tries to access those recording devices. If we catch her doing that would the D.A.'s office be willing to cut her a deal so that we can get her to testify against whoever else was involved in former D.A. Holland's death?" Walker answered Alex who said " That depends how how deeply she was involved. Ranger Captain Walker if it turns out the she was the one to have pulled the trigger there will be no plea deal with her."

Walker then formally stated " I understand that D.A. Cahill-Walker but if she didn't pull the trigger we may have to let her have a plea deal in order to bring everyone else that was involved to justice." Alex just as formally stated " Yes Ranger Captain Walker if Miss Gerry did not pull the trigger you are authorized to offer her a plea deal in order to get her testimony against whomever else may be involved in the death of Phiilip Holland. Please see to it that my office is kept informed of what happens in this case."

" Okay D.A. Cahill-Walker I'll call you later and let you know what happens when Miss Gerry is allowed back into Holland's old office to get her plants." Walker replied and his wife then said to him " I'll have Kayla there when Miss Gerry retreives her plants but to be on the safe side I'll tell her that she is not to go into the private office for any reason. If something comes up when Miss Gerry picks up her plants I don't want a defense attorney to be in a position to infer that Kayla was in that inner office." Walker winked at Alex then left her office.

Walker, Trivette and Captain Grear were in an office nearby watching a monitor that showed Holland's old office. Trivette's friend was there also and he was recording everything for the record. They watched as Kayla opened the door to the outer office to let Miss Gerry in. Miss Gerry sat down at her old desk and turned on the computer there then said " While I'm waiting for this to boot up would you mind bringing me my plants from Phil's old office?" Kayla who had been instructed by Alex that she was not to gp into the inner office replied " I'm sorry but I'm not going to do that. D.A. Cahill-Walker said that I was to allow you to go in there to get your plants and then relock the door. If you want those plants you will have to get them yourself."

Gerry got up from the desk as she said " Fine I will since you're too lazy for your own good. In my day you helped someone when they asked you to." Gerry went into the private office and hurriedly removed the recording devices from the bottom of the planters. When she returned to the outer office Gerry remarked " My plants are dead so I'm not even going to take them with me. Now if you have you no objections I'm going to delete my personal files from this computer." Kayla shook her head no and turned her back on Gerry who pulled out a thumb drive and inserted it into the computer. After a couple of minutes she removed it as she told Kayla " There I'm done now."

Back in the other office Trivette's friend told the others that Miss Gerry had just fried her computer. The men left the office and caught up to her in the hallway where they placed her under arrest. As Grear was removing the recording devices from where they had been hidden Trivette told her " Tell us what you know and maybe the D.A. will go easy on you."

Walker however said " There will be no deal at this time Ranger Trivette and Captain Grear. The D.A.'s office will be holding Miss Gerry as a material witness for the 72 hours that they can by law and then maybe they'll agree to a plea dea." Grear then read Gerry her rights and cuffed her. As Grear led Miss Gerry away Trivette looked at Walker who said " I think that Gerry is far more involved than we know." Trivette just nodded okay because there were times that Walker's hunches proved to be right.

Chapter Five

Walker and Trivette entered Alex's office and were told by Kayla that D.A. Cahill-Walker were expecting to go ahead into her private office. After they were seated she asked them " Are there any further updates on the shooting death of our former D.A.?" Trivette looked at Walker then answered " Right now Miss Gerry is being held in the county jail as a material witness. As to what was on her computer we haven't heard back from the lab yet. Jolysn did say that it might take some time to go over everything that was in that computer." Alex then said to the pair " Have you questioned her yet to see if she's willing to testify against Briton and whoever else may be involved?"

Walker replied " Not at this time D.A. Cahill-Walker. We're waiting to see what if anything was recorded on her computer concerning the activities in D.A. Holland's office. In the meantime we're going to bring Briton in for questioning." Alex responded " You can bring Briton in for questioning but don't be surprised if he refuses to say anything to you. Although if you want my office can issue an order for him to be held as a material witness too. While you two are doing that I'll have the police department inform Officer Thomas that there's going to be a formal inquiry into what happened the day Captain Walker arrested Briton. That he needs to give a statement in the matter."

" There is? When did this happen? Shouldn't you have warned Walker about this before now?' Trivette questioned the D.A. who answered him " Because Holland was the one who had orginaly scheduled the inquest and with his death it was put on hold but after consulting with several judges I've decided that the inquiry should now proceed. Now Trivette before you say anything else I need everything that happened the day of Briton's arrest by Texas Ranger Walker to be on record in case any of it is somehow tied to Phil's death. Now that that's settled, Captain Walker may I talk with you in private?" Trivette took the hint and left Alex's private office.

Walker looked at his wife who told him " Sorry about just springing on you that there's going to be an inquiry into Briton's claim that you assualted him during his arrest but I really didn't have the time to warn you. The inquiry is taking place sooner than I would like it to. It seems that just about everyone wants the matter settled very quickly. You're going to have to give a statement on what happened that day at police headquarters. My office can't take it for very obvious reasons. You're to get in touch with Captain Grear's office to let him know what time you're going to be there. Any questions?"

" Just one lady, where's my kiss?" Walker answered to let her know that he wasn't upset about things. Alex kissed him on the cheek and her husband teased her " You're going to do a lot better than that later on lady." Walker left her office and collected Trivette.

Before hauling Briton in Walker gave his statement to Captain Grear. Walker stated that when he had placed Briton in Thomas' police cruiser that he didn't have bruises on him and that he Walker hadn't used any kind of force to arrest Briton.

As they were questioning Briton Trivette was growing frustrated that Briton kept saying that he was devastated by his half brother's suicide and that he had no idea why Phil would have taken his own life. Trivette snarled at him " Of come off it Briton you and I both know that somehow you were able to sneak into Holland's office and shoot him in the head. So don't bother to tell me that your devastated by his death when you were the one who pulled the trigger. Wasn't getting him hooked on 'Spark' and his taking up with your strippers enough for you? For god's sake you or somebody who worked for you was injecting 'spark' into Holland's back. His life was ruined, did you really have to kill him too? Or were you afraid that Holland would come to his senses and stop protecting you from justice?"

" What are you talking about? Injecting it into his back? I only gave him 'spark' the first time as a joke. I did it because when we met at the Devil's Hornocopia he was so uptight that I thought he needed to loosen up some, that's all. I swear. I sure as hell never snuck into his office and killed him either. Look I know that you think that I'm a lowlife but I didn't murder my own brother." Briton answered Trivette who said " Sure you didn't murder Holland. I can't wait until we get to see what all the hidden recording system that was in Holland's office reveals. As soon as that happens you're going to jail for a very long time."

Briton didn't say anything but Walker did by asking him " You didn't know about the recording system that sent everything that happened in Holland's private office to Miss Gerry's computer, did you? What's her relationship to you?"

" Geraldine Georgette Gerry is my aunt, my mother's younger sister. She has been working at the D.A's office for years now, as a matter of fact she was the receptionist for former D.A. Moody. Then she became Phil's secretary after Moody's death. Aunt Gigi is as clean as they come, at least according to her. She has always rubbed it in my mother's face that she was the good daughter unlike my mother who had been disowned by their parents. Are you telling me that she was spying on my own brother?" Briton ended with a question of his own.

" It appears that way." Trivette replied causing Briton to say " I have done a lot of things that some people would consider wrong but I am not a killer, nor do I put out hits on people. Those hidden recording devices will show you that I didn't kill Phillip. And to prove it I'll give you a statement about my Aunt Gigi and also what happened that day when Walker arrested me. I would however like to give my statement to Captain Grear." Walker nodded okay and made the arrangements for him to give his statement.

In the meantime Officer Thomas gave his statement saying under oath that Walker had used very excessive force the day he had arrested Briton. Miss Gerry also gave a long and tearful statement in which she said that she had been forced to spy on D.A. Holland by her nephew Carswell Briton. That she had only gone along with it because he had threatened to kill her if she didn't. After reading all the statements Alex decided that until they were able to see what the recording devices had captured she would hold both Briton and Miss Gerry in jail until the 72 hours were up. As for Officer Thomas his captain strongly suggested that he take some time off so he did.

Chapter Six

Walker, Alex, Trivette and Captain Grear were in the forensics lab watching as Jolsyn had tech Alverez hook up some wires from one computer to another one. After that was done Jolsyn said to them " Gentlemen and Miss D.A. while most of the files from those hidden recording devices were deleted they weren't lost altogether. Now when you delete a file on your computer that doesn't mean that it isn't still elsewhere on your computer. We did a search for lost, hidden and deleted files on this computer that we took from former D.A. Holland's outer office and we were able to recover a lot of files that had been deleted including some of the ones from those hidden recording devices from Holland's private office. Alverez why don't you show then a part of what we found?"

Alverez did as she was asked to and the computer showed Holland's private office with him sitting at his desk and Walker standing there trying to see if Holland needed help. Holland denied that he needed help and handed Walker some folders. After Walker left with the folders Miss Gerry entered the private office from the bathroom causing Holland to say to her " Miss Gerry what are you doing in here? If you're worried that I told Walker what was going on don't be. I would never do anything to risk my wife and son's life. And you should know that from all the spying that you've been doing on me."

Miss Gerry answered " I know that you haven't told Walker anything, yet. But you know Holland I'm not about to take a chance on you growing a pair. Now lean over your desk and pull up your shirt so that I can give you your fix." As he leaned over his desk while pulling up the back of his shirt to expose his back Holland said " Do you really have to keep me drugged up? I mean that arm twisting that I got a few minutes ago is more than enough to keep me in line. I know that your nephew will kill my wife and our son if I don't keep going along with what he wants me to do. "

Miss Gerry didn't answer him instead she injected Holland in his back and waited for it to take effect. After the spark had taken effect Holland was sitting there unable to so much as move Miss Gerry pulled out a gun calmly placed it to the side of Holland's head as she told him " By the way my nephew isn't behind this, I am. And I've decided that your use to me is at a end so goodbye." Gerry then pulled the trigger. After placing the gun on Holland's desk she locked the door to the outer office and went back to her office through the bathroom.

Grear asked " If she knew that everything was being recorded to her computer why didn't she get rid of the evidence on her computer?" Jolsyn answered him " She deleted all the files but they were still stored on the computer. Most people wouldn't know that nothing is truly ever gone from a computer completely unless it crashes. We've made copies of everything that we found on this computer and put them on three flash drives for the offices that need them. We've done everything by the book in regards to labeling all the evidence. I need Captain Grear, Captain Walker and D.A. Cahill-Walker to sign for those flash drives."

The three of them signed for the flash drives then took them and left the forensics lab. In the hallway Alex told the others " I'll have an arrest warrant issued for Miss Gerry as soon as I get back to my office. Captain Grear would you mind having one of your officers stop by and get it then serve the warrant on Miss Gerry?" After Grear agreed to that Alex asked the Rangers " Captain Walker and Ranger Trivette after Briton is released from the county jail I want the two of you to make sure that he knew nothing about what Gerry had been doing to his half brother. Also have someone serve a search warrant on his accountants just see what his books say, both sets of them. We'll go from there."

Walker and Trivette had Briton in Walker's private office where Trivette asked him " Briton for the last time did you have knowledge or were you directly or indirectly involved in the death of Phillip Holland?" Briton answered " I knew nothing about what my aunt was doing, I swear. Those hidden recording devices proved that, didn't they? I mean if they showed otherwise you would have already arrested me. Now wouldn't you have?"

Trivette just turned on the computer monitor and hit play on the media player that was already up. Briton watched the screen as his two attorneys were in brother's private office threatening him and when Holland told them to leave one of them held Holland while the other twisted his arm behind his back. They only stopped when Walker was heard calling from the outer office. Trivette hit pause as Walker said " If you knew nothing about what was going on why were your attorneys threatening your brother's wife and toddler son?"

Briton answered " Because they were no longer working for me. Yes I admit that when I first met my half brother Phil Holland I did want to pay him back for the fact our father never married my mother because of him but after I slipped him some spark he began to change. I realized that his change in behavior was enough, he had become in more ways than one just like me. Holland began to hang out with me at The Devil's Hornocopia and for the first time in my life I had a family member who gave a damn about me. My mother was too busy running her business when I was growing up to care about me and my aunt Gigi considered me to be nothing to her. I did not kill him and I did not know that anyone was planning on killing my brother because if I had prior knowledge I would have stopped them."

Trivette unpaused the media player and Briton watched as his aunt killed his brother in cold blood. Briton asked " But why did she kill him? She had a sweet little thing going. Why?"

Walker replied " Because sooner or later you would have realized what she was up to unless your accountants don't keep you up to date on the money your clubs are raking in from illegal activities. You know the drug running, prositution and book making." Briton objected " Hey wait a minute I don't have drug running and book making running out of my clubs. As for prositution I can't stop my strippers from making side deals."

" Whatever Briton. According to the books that your accountant produced for us you had a major cash flow into your secondary books from activities that weren't listed on federal tax returns. Although your accountant did tell us that some of the money was recently being diverted to accounts in the Cayman Island in Geraldine Georgette Gerry's name. Have anything to say about that?" Trivette informed Briton stunning him. After collecting his wits Briton said " That witch was stealing from me? I'll show her, I know about some other things that she had been doing behind D. A. Moody's back until he died from a bad heart. I'll be glad to give a sworn statement about that and so much more."

Chapter Seven

It was now several days later and Alex was meeting with Kim who was Phillip Holland's widow to explain to her what was happening. After Kim was seated Alex told her " There has been an arrest in the shooting death of your husband." Kim broke in to say " It was Briton, wasn't it?"

Alex answered " No it wasn't Briton. The police department has arrested Geraldine Gerry in the death of Phillip Holland. It turns out that she is the aunt of Briton but he wasn't involved in D.A. Holland's death. Kim this is going to be hard for you to hear but you need to know everything that happened." Alex then went on to explain how the senior Holland's will had led him to meet his half brother Briton at the Devil's Hornocopia during which Briton had slipped him some spark. That after that Holland had begun to hang out at the Devil's Hornocopia with his brother and took to sleeping with the strippers while there and covering up criminal activity that was occuring at Briton's adult clubs. That Carswell Briton had nothing to do with the hidden recording devices in Holland's office or Phil being injected with spark by Gerry in his private office to keep him in line. That all was the idea of Miss Gerry who talked Briton's two attorneys into helping her blackmail Holland into covering up crimes that were taking place at The Devil's Hornocopia and Heaven's Delight. She had led Phil to believe that his half brother Carswell Briton was behind it and would kill both Kim and her toddler son if Holland told anybody about it. That Gerry had taken to stealing some of the money from the illegal activities so she then decided that sooner or later Briton would figure what was going on and go after her because of it so she injected Phil with spark then killed him in cold blood. Walker believed that Gerry hoped the police if in the unlikely event hey were able to figure out that Holland hadn't killed himself would think Briton had done it and build a case against him resulting in his being sent to jail leaving her free to then run Briton's businesses, legal and otherwise.

Kim through her tears hen said " Believe it or not it makes Phil's death easier to accept, knowing that he didn't take his own life and that he died protecting me and our son. It also helps to know that he did try and get some help but couldn't get the help in time. Alex your office will see to it that she goes to prison for a very long time, won't you?" Alex replied " We have Gerry on a recording showing her calmly shooting Phil after forcing him into taking an injection of spark by her own hands. After the injection Phil was unable to so much as move a muscle and couldn't stop Gerry from taking his life. We will be seeking the death penalty, she will pay for what she did. You have my word on that." Kim nodded okay and left Alex's office. Walker who had been waiting in the outer office entered his wife's private office. Walker gathered his wife into his arms as she told him " Honey I will be the D.A. for the next two years. Can you accept that?"

" Yes I can lady and if you want to run for D.A. two years from now I'll do anything that I can to help you win." Walker answered. Alex kissed him on the cheek as she answered " I know honey." Alex then turned off her computer and went to turn the lights as Walker asked " Is there anything I can do for you?"

Needing to lighten the very somber mood Alex move close to her husband and teased him " I accept cowboy." A puzzled Walker asked her " You accept what?"

With a huge grin Alex moved even closer to whisper in Walker's ear. " That package that you're going to give me later in the privacy of our bedroom Cordell." Walker whispered back " For god's sake can't you wait until we're home to talk about us...you know."

" Okay, okay. I'll behave until tonight." Alex replied then followed her husband out the door. That night in their bedroom Walker gave Alex what she had been waiting for all day making her a very happy woman. Walker felt pretty good about it himself as he pulled his wife close so that they could fall asleep in each other's arms.  



End file.
